Week in Review – Week of 2009 December 20th – 26th

This has been a very nice holiday week. I only had to work three days this week, and while it sucks that one of those days is Saturday, it could be a lot worse. I’m in Evansville right now, hanging out with my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin. My mom is doing well, and we benefit by enjoying her wonderful cooking. I got her a carved wooden “happiness” statuette to celebrate the fact that her depression is lifted and she’s finally feeling herself again.


Most of derby practice sucked Sunday. Between my sprained ankle and my late work shift, I haven't been able to make it to more than one practice a week, and that's not enough to keep up. I tried to sprint out of a pack skate when it was my turn, and after getting whipped to the front I promptly fell on my ass, which didn't hurt then but hurt for days after. I think I might take Dexter's advice and start going to Skateland on Thursday nights, at least on the weeks I work late and can't go to Monday practice.

After practice I went to Ke’s to shower and spend the night. We went to the Laundromat so she could wash and dry blankets and sleeping bags, and we grabbed Chinese food from next door while we were there. When we got back we watched a cute Star Trek parody episode of CSI while Ke worked on computer repair projects. When Nivagi got home, she hung out with us for a while before going to bed. When Ke got hungry again, I went out and got us Fazoli’s before bed. We stayed up way too late, but it was fine since I didn’t have to work Monday.

Monday afternoon Ke and I got up and went to Le Peep for a late breakfast. I hung out at Ke’s before going to Jero’s to snuggle and get dinner. After dinner Jero and I went to derby practice – me to skate, Jero to observe and provide advice and moral support (she’s on a self-imposed off-season until January). Practice followed the same pattern as Sunday – the first half sucked, but it got better as I got warmed up. After practice I gave Jero solstice presents and then we cuddled and watched Dexter.

Work was hectic Tuesday, but I got to leave a little early so I went home and enjoyed some time alone before my friend Jeki arrived. She’s in area (sort of) for the holidays, so she made time to stop by like she did last year. We thought she was going to have to leave early to drive back to her parents’, but she got someone to watch her kids so she could spend the night. We both had a lovely time cuddling and catching up with everything that’s been going on in the last year.

Wednesday work sucked, so I escaped as early as possible and went home to unwind before bringing Ke dinner. Ke and I snuggled up and watched NCIS before I tore myself away and headed to Bloomington to pick up Chhu to bring her to Evansville. Chhu and I headed to Evansville, where I dropped Chhu off at our mom’s. I went to Mira’s apartment, where we said hello to her roommates and then sequestered ourselves in her bedroom to snuggle and watch “Epitath One.”
Thursday morning Mira and I went to her brother’s house for Christmas Eve celebrations. Mira’s family is very nice, and they (as well as Mira) got me presents. When we left I went to my mom’s house for dinner. She made super-yummy lasagna, and after we ate we hung out and listened to fun Christmas music like Straight No Chaser and Hebe’s Cthulhu carols. When Mom went to bed I got on the MUX for a while and then Chhu and I played Guitar Hero.

Around 2 AM Friday morning I went to Mira’s to sleep. Hours later Mira woke me up very nicely with kisses and breakfast. When she headed out for her Christmas plans, I headed back to my mom’s apartment. She’s making a ham for the holidays, and after we eat I’m bringing Chhu back to Bloomington and then meeting up with Caro while she’s in the state. Caro’s Thanksgiving visit was far too short, so tonight I get to kidnap her for the entire night.

Tomorrow morning I have to work, so unfortunately Caro will have to head back early. After work I get to have dinner with Jero and her parents. With luck maybe we’ll all get to play SingStar again and Jero’s brother and I can show off our mad Madonna-singing skillz. I like Jero’s family, so I’m happy I’ll get to see them while they’re in town for the holidays. Overall, it’s been a very nice holiday week with friends, lovers, and family.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

Week in Review – Week Ending 2009 May 16

This week has been up and down emotionally, but mostly good. I’m working a relatively normal day shift for a change, with the tradeoff being it’s Saturday and I’m here in the office. I’ve been reminded that I don’t actually like working during the day, since the calls are non-stop and not actually worth any points. Still it’s nice to be able to get off work when people are actually awake and available to hang out. My friend Laat took advantage of this opportunity and drove up to see me on Thursday.

Sunday for Mother’s Day I actually had a good time hanging out with my mom in Evansville. She’s not feeling as depressed as she was, and while she is having a little trouble following conversations and tends to interrupt a lot, it was good to see her and she was very happy my sister Chhu and I visited. We took her out for an Italian dinner at her favorite place in Evansville, all three of us seemed to benefit from the time we were there.

Monday I had the day off since I’m working Saturday, so I enjoyed some time to myself, finishing another section in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal before heading over to Jero’s for dinner. After we ate we snuggled up to watch the final episodes of Dollhouse, which were excellent. We did take time out in the middle to watch Castle, which remains a guilty pleasure.

Tuesday was crazy-busy with calls, and no e-time since they’ve come up with a busywork project for us when we run out of orders. When at last I got off work I grabbed Nivagi and we went by Ke’s lab to pick her up for dinner. We three went out for yummy noodles and hung out until Ke had to go back to work. Nivagi and I went to my place and headed down to the hot tub downstairs, cooling off in the pool when we got too warm. When we had soaked enough we came back upstairs, showered, and went to bed to snuggle since we both had to work early the next morning.

Wednesday night Ke and I went out to dinner before returning to her place to laptop and snuggle. We tested to see if we could both fit in her sleeping bag (not really – that only worked when she was still exclusively dating petite women!) and then she looked up camping supplies online for her birthday weekend while I tried to get caught up on email and the Internets. Neither of us really wanted to go to sleep, but since we both had to be up early Ke eventually lured me to bed.

Thursday Laat came up to visit me and met me at my apartment after work. She was tried from the drive from Evansville, so we napped for a while and then watched Lost before heading out to eat. Laat’s on a week’s vacation she took from work for her birthday, and I was very pleased she chose to spend part of it with me. She missed the televised season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, but watched it Friday morning online instead before heading back to Louisville.

Jero and I got off to a rough start to our anniversary Friday but smoothed things out in time for a nice evening. For dinner Jero and I went out to a new Chinese buffet that opened near her, and we were both very pleased with the food and service. Besides yummy Chinese food and sushi, Jero got to enjoy blue crab and other types of crab legs and I got yummy steak to share. We got shakes on the way back to her house to complete an evening of culinary indulgence, followed by SingStar 80's (at last).

Today I had to work, and I traded with a coworker to come in early so she could go to a morning event with her kid. I hate working Saturdays, and it certainly was an unwelcome interruption in my anniversary weekend with Jero. Tonight when I escape, Jero and I are heading down to Bloomington for dinner and then the Bleeding Heartland Roller Girls PANTS OFF DANCE OFF SEASON KICK-OFF PARTY, which should be a lot of fun. It should definitely make up for my crappy day at work.

"I believe what I said yesterday -- I don't know what I said, but I know what I think, and, uh, I assume it's what I said."
-- former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Week in Review – Week Ending April 18

Last week was very nice. I got to start the week spending time with Caro in Minneapolis, and after I got back to Indy I had a pleasantly quiet week with Jero, Ke, and Nivagi. I ended the week going to see a roller derby bout with Jero, and hanging out with not only Ke but also Asca, whom I’ve actually gotten to see almost once a month this year (after a long stretch of about once a year, tops). I’ve gotten to talk with Mira a lot on the phone and over text, and she’ll be coming to visit this coming weekend, which will be great. Unfortunately Mika got sick this weekend, so I didn’t get to hang out with her, but I’m hoping she’ll feel better soon so we can reschedule.

Last Sunday was Caro’s birthday, so I was up for whatever Caro wanted to do while I was there. Her first request was for me to go with her to IKEA, so we ventured out to the land of oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen so Caro could size up new storage space for her ever-growing yarn stash. Sunday night we had a yummy sushi dinner with Caro’s local boyfriend and his wife, both of whom seemed very cool. Caro seems to have a preference for long-haired geeky guys – who knew? B) That night we snuggled on the couch and watched Futurama while she spun yarn, before going to bed to cuddle and sleep.

Last Monday Caro and I had breakfast and then went to the bank so she could open an IRA -- she figured since she was 30 now she should do something responsible. We went to a bookstore so Caro could sell some used books and so she and I could conform to our traditional “sushi and bookstore” weekend. >B) We went back to Caro’s for a shower and a nap, and then had to leave so she could bring me to the airport. The trip back was a little sad but uneventful. Jero picked me up when I got back to Indy, and made me dinner before we snuggled in bed to watch Dollhouse. Caro was actually in Bloomington this past weekend, but she was busy with her family so I didn’t get to see her again. We might meet in Chicago in July.

Tuesday I went to Ke’s after work, bringing food from the crowned ruler of burgers. Ke and I watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, mystified at why, if NASA wasn’t going to name a node after Colbert because they "… typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people,” they named it Tranquility instead of Serenity, which I believe had won the online poll. Why have a poll and then ignore the results, aside from publicity? I thought we’d wind up staying up late playing on our laptops as we usually do, but Ke suddenly announced she was going to bed, so I shut down and followed.

Wednesday night after work I ran home to grab a shower and then went over to Chpa and Nivagi’s to pick up Nivagi. I’d expected another quiet night in like last week, but when I got there Nivagi suggested we could go to the club, which we’d been planning for a while but hadn’t done yet. I was still a little stressed from work, but I told Nivagi if she wanted to go the club I would be up for it. Nivagi and I headed to the Red Eye for a late dinner. While eating and enjoying Nivagi’s company my nerves gradually settled, and by the time we were done eating I was more calm and ready for a social outing, so we went to the club at last and had a good time.

Thursday morning Nivagi and I managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to have Le Peep before I had to drop her off at work. Work for me was busy at first since they’d sent everyone else home with e-time and left no one else to answer the phones, but in the evening it quieted down, which was more pleasant. Thursday evening I avoided siren songs of snuggles with Ke to have a night to myself to catch up on journaling and laundry, and just to recharge my social batteries. I watched a little Family Guy on Hulu, and went back through some of my old journals, reminiscing on the past. I stayed up way too late, but it was worth it just to have some rare downtime alone in my apartment.

Friday work was another crazy-busy day for the first four hours and then quiet the rest of my shift. When I got off work I met Ke at the Chinese buffet. She had just gotten a surprise scholarship, so she bought me dinner since I’m saving money in case we still strike. After we ate we went back to Ke’s and played on our laptops until Ke was sleepy, which wasn’t long. Unfortunately, although the food at the buffet was very yummy, it wound up making me feel a little sick for the rest of the night. I thought about watching The Colbert Report on Hulu before bed, but ultimately I wound up just joining Ke in sleep.

Saturday morning Ke and I stayed in bed as long as possible, until Ke’s hunger nearly caused her to resort to cannibalism. I grabbed a shower and then ran out to Denny’s, dropping food off at Jero’s on the way. Back at Ke’s, Ke and I ate, watched Bones, and played in the Internet before I headed back over to Jero’s. Jero and I went out to dinner and then to the Circle City Socialites bout. Jero was extremely cute in how excited she was about seeing CCS play again, and indeed they have improved tremendously since we saw them last in Evansville just a month ago. After the bout Jero and I went back to her house and stayed up way too late figuring out what events we wanted to sign up for the next day when Gen Con registration opened.

Sunday I registered for Gen Con and then went home to meet Asca. We went out to eat, and then hung out at my apartment talking about music, role-playing, and how cute Jero is. Usually when I hang out with Asca it’s just a quick hello before she has to head home before her kid gets off school, so it was good to have more time to talk and relax. Tonight I’m staying home for MUX night, and hope to get a chance to meet up online with Hemy and maybe work something out for next week, when I’ll actually be able to get online when other people are awake, since I’ll be working from two to ten-thirty AM, and be a free (if zombie-like) the rest of the day.

"...President Bush gave a speech to the American society of newspaper editors. Not surprisingly the speech was entitled `Thank you for Marmaduke.'"
--Conan O'Brien

Week in Review – February 14th

Last week was good, even though I started feeling sickly around Thursday. I got to spend some much-needed time with Ra and Amsc, and spent the weekend hanging out with Jero, Ke, and Mira. I didn’t get to see Mika at all for the second week in a row, which bothered me a lot more than I realized it would. I could have gone to her anti-Valentine party, but I didn’t want to deal with the smoke and the social anxiety.

Last Sunday I woke up early to drive to St. Louis to see Ra and Sckl. When I arrived we went out for lunch and watched Coraline, which was awesome. After the movie they ordered pizza and we watched The Big Bang Theory, which Ra had gotten me as a present. TBBT was good choice – some of the geek jokes strike very close to home. I’ve already started quoting it, to Ra’s amused annoyance.

Last Monday Sckl had to depart super-early to leave town for work, so he was gone by the time I woke up. I ran to the credit union to give my mom money, and then Ra and I went out for lunch and a visit to the comic store. We spent the afternoon discussing our relationship, and then at 7 I got onto the MUX for a meeting. That night I had to head back to Indy, after a long and very pleasant good-bye from Ra.

Last Tuesday I took a half-day off work to recover from the late drive back to Indy. It was very worth it for the extra Ra time, and I made up for it by converting my day off Friday to another half-day. After work I went over to see Ke, who seemed just as tired as I. We tried to stay up and be productive, but eventually we threw in the towel and just went to bed to snuggle and catch up on sleep.

At the MUX meeting Monday we realized that a lot of our players and admin were free on Wednesday, so Hemy put together a TinyPlot event. Cobra attacked Chicago, both to damage Boeing headquarters and to damage the message of hope set forth by President Dunham (our stand-in for Obama). The event was a lot of fun, and we got it started early enough that General Hawk could join us, which was a nice bonus.

Last Thursday after work I drove to Illinois to see Amsc. We ordered Jimmy Johns and snuggled on her couch to watch the two most recent episodes of BSG. Amsc played some on her fancy new laptop, but this time didn’t let tech focus completely distract her during our visit. Unfortunately, I was starting to get sick, so by the time we went to bed I was too miserable to fully enjoy her company, which was a crying shame.

Friday I got to sleep in a little with Amsc since I’d taken a half-day off work. After my four hours at the job, I picked up Ke and we went to shopping for flowers for Mira, who came to visit this past weekend. We were hoping to go to Panera for dinner, but it got too late so we hit the Chinese buffet instead. I had to work the next day, so when we got back to Ke’s house we soon headed to bed.

Saturday after work Jero picked me up and we went to see the Naptown Roller Girls Warning Belles debut bout. I was still feeling anti-social and crappy, but I had a great time nonetheless. The Warning Belles kicked ass, beating the NE Ohio Rock n Rollers 63 to 41. They also raised $ 5025 for breast cancer research during their half-time auction, which was even cooler.

I had a good time seeing Ra and Amsc last week, and I’m glad I was able to work out the time to drive out to see them. Besides being sick, I had a great time this weekend hanging out with Jero, Ke, and Mira. Unfortunately this week has been hellaciously crappy so far, due to feeling sickly and fighting with Mika. I’m hoping I’ll at least be able to work things out with Mika when I see her today after work.

Oil Drilling In Alaska
"This can't be true. Bush described himself as an environmental guardian last fall, and I've seen photos of him standing in front of trees."
—Cecelia Mayo, Systems Analyst, theonion.com